Sun shines on Sweden at last

Weather is a funny thing. There's nothing that any any of us can do about it, yet still it takes up an awful lot of our attention. For two straight days, on Monday and Tuesday, Kyiv was drenched by thunderstorms.

Indeed the weather was reminiscent of Lugano when Sweden were based there during UEFA EURO 2008. On that occasion, they did not manage to make it out of the group stage. "We didn't play worse because of the weather," said Kim Källström in a magazine interview. "But we stayed at a beautiful hotel, and all we could do was look out at the rain every day. It was bad for the team."

On the other hand, though, the weather can throw anything it likes at Sweden as long as the team are winning. Nothing can dampen the mood when results are going the right way. However, Källström does have a point. With frustration mounting after a group stage defeat, being holed up in a gilded cage can be tough to deal with.

Once again, Sweden will be staying in style. This time they are at a spa hotel on the banks of the Dnipr river with a tennis court and private beach. Sunshine would most definitely be welcome. But if they get the results they want, Källström and the others won't be bothered by rain, sleet or snow. Wednesday morning, though, offers nothing but warming sunshine. Should the weather take another turn for the worse again, there is always the bowling alley in the team hotel.

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